A self-taught artist, Alioune Diouf (b.1964) was born and lives in Dakar, Senegal.
Selebe Yoon Gallery, Dakar, until January 27, 2021
Degénération engénération, 2020.
About the exhibition
Selebe Yoon is pleased to announce its inaugural exhibition, Ubeku (“Ouverture”), a solo exhibition by the Senegalese artist Alioune Diouf (b.1964), following a two months residency in the venue. The exhibition will present a monumental site-specific exhibition at the entrance, a series of drawings made of natural pigments, his series “Gouney Jagaal” that interweaves sewing and painting, as well as site-specific interventions.
Le Champs de L’Homme, 2020
Observing Alioune Diouf’s work, bodily gestures or train of thoughts is like being caught in a sudden march in the middle of the road and following its unpredictable twists and turns. We ignore what image his first charcoal line spontaneously drawn on a paper will unveil, what his words, devoid of artifice, will lead to or where his path will take us. And yet, his work irremediably carries us towards a unity that holds the variety of the world. But this unity is born from the most imperceptible details: a trace on a wall, a mango leaf, a sewing thread that eventually spawns countless numbers of figures, sacred symbols and patterns…
Fashion Show, 2020
Who are these individuals, each with an idiosyncratic character, with a diversity of colors, size and appearance? As anonymous companions, these people are searching for the unspoken language of the world, in quest of a humanity. Amongst these faces, birds, horses, snakes coexist with totemic figures, cosmic and floral elements as well as hybrid and mythical beings such as a half-man half-bird creature or a baobab-man. He disseminates in his work universal symbols that have prompted ancient civilization’s imagination for their sacred quality: the cross, the eye, the egg, the moon. As universal as these symbols might be, they constitute the intimate and spiritual repertoire of the artist. The bird – the intercessor between the sky and the earth – often leaning on the artist’s characters, is a messenger of the spirit. The cross evokes an axe and represents man in his desire for elevation; the egg – a symbol of life – is often wrapped inside the characters’ turbans, suspended above their heads or concealed in their forehead.
Alioune Diouf’s visual universe is both gracious and puzzling. The boundlessly large dances with the most infinitesimal details of the world in a constant overflow. Each figure drawn – from the bird, to the tree, to the man, to the eye, – never ceases at its edge, but unfolds and stretches beyond its outlines to join the dance of this bustling carnival. In this uninterrupted motion of life, these figures are tied by a single sewing thread, by the same breath that animates all beings. It is an art that tickles spirituality, and a spirituality that caresses art. A possible humanity. A unity. An openness.
Fashion Show, 2020
About the artist
Most of his education happened outdoor with live experiences and direct observations of the world and its natural phenomena. He established for himself a practical philosophy and a spirituality freed from institutions. In 1989, he met the emblematic figure of Senegal in the arts, Issa Samb who invited him to join the famous courtyard at 17 Jules Ferry et became a member of the Laboratoire Agit’ Art – an interdisciplinary collective that organized artistic experimentations, improvisational happenings and workshops. Through the Laboratoire Agit’ Art, he has participated at the famous Africa 95 Festival in London in 1995 but also in the historical exhibition Seven Stories about Modern Art in Africa at the Whitechapel Gallery, organised by Clémentine Déliss ; Le Congrès de Minuit (Dakar biennial, OFF, 2016) and La Cloche des Fourmis (Biennale de Dakar, OFF, 2018) organised par le Laboratoire Agit’Art. His work has also been exhibited in Dakar at the Pavilion of the French Institute (2019), Keur Gaindé gallery or at the Sorano theater. His personal work and collaborations with Issa Samb were recently exhibited at the Hamburger Bahnof à Berlin en 2019 in the exhibition How to talk with birds, trees, fish, shells, snakes, bulls and lions. Diouf has done a residency in Morocco (2001) and at the Meet Factory, a contemporary art center in Prague (2015).